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Firefighters mop up Ranch Fire

Firefighters continued mopping up the Ranch Fire Thursday, which has burned close to 55,800 acres between Castaic and Fillmore since it began Saturday night.

Most of the fire's flames have been knocked down, and firefighters had cut containment lines around 70 percent of the burned area by Thursday afternoon, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Some firefighters were released to work on other fires this week but 905 firefighters continued working Thursday to extinguish the remainder of the flare-ups and make sure the Ranch Fire is completely out.

The blaze destroyed one home and eight outbuildings, said Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Tom Kruschke. One abandoned mobile home in Ventura County was among the structures destroyed.

By Thursday, the bill for fighting the blaze had reached $7 million. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Ten fires across the state were still less than 100 percent contained by Thursday afternoon, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Malibu Fire, which destroyed or damaged 22 structures, was 85 percent contained. Costs for that fire had risen to $4.2 million.

The Ventura County Fire Department has sent 14 engine companies and 21 other individuals to help with fires still burning around the state, said department spokesman Bill Nash.

The Oxnard Fire Department sent three engine companies to blazes including the Grass Valley Fire near Lake Arrowhead, said spokeswoman Deborah Shane.

Other departments around the county sent a total of four engines companies to other fires.

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